Arrangements for attaching control arms in vehicles are generally adapted to connect the control arm of a vehicle to the rest of the vehicle creating a connection between the wheel suspension and the vehicle body. There are multiple solutions available in prior art with the most common solution being a control arm arranged to a sub-frame that serves the purpose of supporting the engine. Each vehicle generally comprises one control arm per front wheel. The control arm is a hinged suspension link and serves as a link between the subframe, or the chassis, and the suspension for a wheel.
Control arms are most commonly arranged in front suspension arrangements, such as MacPhearson strut independent front suspensions, but are also arranged in rear suspensions of some vehicles. In general, control arms are adapted to improve comfort, create adequate suspension, and provide a solution with sufficient structural strength to withstand forces during normal operation. Those solutions are well known to the person skilled in the art.
The structural strength of arrangements for attaching control arms to vehicles has to be sufficient to withstand stress and forces during normal operation but the same structural strength creates problems during collisions. For example, most components arranged in the front of a vehicle are during a frontal crash pressed backwards towards the passenger cell. Therefore are many of those components collapsible in order to absorb energy and prevent them from being pushed into the passenger cell. The control arm is required to have strength to withstand forces from driving into potholes, hitting sidewalk edges, and other forces that are applied to the wheel and front suspension of a vehicle which makes it difficult to deform or collapse during a crash. The same problem exists for the front wheels as well as the engine. It is thereby a common risk that both the control arm and the wheel attached thereto is pushed backwards towards the passenger cell during a frontal collision, especially if the collision is a so called small offset collision.
Thus it would be advantageous to provide a solution wherein the structural strength is maintained without the drawbacks of the prior art solutions, especially to improve the safety for passengers of the vehicle during a crash.